Do people even pay attention to the tpms warning?

[CarLuver]

this morning i went out to pick up some stuff. i was stopped behind a BMW X 1 . i noticed the left rear tire looked flat . was gonna try to get their attention and tell them that the tire was low or flat.

light turned green before that and they took off. was behind them for at least 1/2 mile before i turned off. i could hear the tire whining like it was running on the bead. made me wonder do people even pay attention to the tpms warning lights. that thing must have been on for a while .

 

[gathermewool]

My wife told me once when it got cold and the light came on. I told her to look at the tire before leaving where she was and if it looked inflated, to just drive home and I would fill'er up when I got home. That was my bad. I'm usually more proactive about tire maintenance.

 

[TmanP]

I think a lot of people don't bother adjusting pressure with seasonal fluctuations (e.g. tires drop from 35 to 31 in the fall/winter), and are conditioned to seeing the light. Or, they may not replace sensors as the batteries die.

 

[97prizm]

I was a dealership lot manager for a while and people today are truly oblivious to warnings chimes etc. Shoot back in high school i worked in as a server. My boss asked me to look at her buick as the front tire seemed low. It had 10 psi in it. Not sure how she made it the 10-15 miles to work without the tire coming off the rim

 

[GMAX]

Maybe he/she was running to the dealer to get help. Some of those BMWs have run-flat tires.

 

[Patrick0525]

For cars that do not report near real-time TPMS pressure and position, I bought my brother one these cheap TPMS monitors.

Ebay

He had slow leak and saved him from being stranded at the train station. He knew which tire and no second guessing.

 

[supton]

My wife does. Well when the system is working--it doesn't during the winter months. Just had to swap on a winter today, one of her all seasons picked up a screw and is at 18psi. But her car used to toss a TPMS warning whenever it got driven more than 45 minutes--we have always had a wary eye towards it--it's a dumb system, just an idiot light, no readout on what the actual pressures are.

If I could retrofit a real display, that'd be interesting.

 

[Leo99]

Wife of a friend of mine drive home on a flat tire and ruined it. My friend asked why she drove on the flat. She said she knew it was low on air but since it was only flat on the bottom she figured it was safe to drive home.

 

[BlueOvalFitter]

Maybe he/she was running to the dealer to get help. Some of those BMWs have run-flat tires.

Or, maybe that year model didn't have a TPMS system. Ford/The government didn't require them until the 2007 year model.

 

[ctechbob]

The only time mine has come on I was driving at highway speeds. I flipped over to the display where the pressures are and the tire was already at 15....14....13....12....('O Shhhhhhh#%^). Luckily I was right near an exit and managed to get off the highway and on to a side road where I could put the spare on without getting run over. There was about a 1/2" deep cut in the tire. Don't know what I hit but boy did it drop air quick. And I'm glad my 08 has a realtime display.

 

[Eddie]

My 2014 MAZDA screamed at me when a tire got low. You couldn't stand the noise for any lenght of time. Ed

 

[bbhero]

My light has been on for 7 years now....


I have a digital pressure gauge and a liquid filled tire pressure gauge in my car. I use them routinely. I inspect my tires routinely as well.

 

[road_rascal]

My TPMS only goes off when the full sized spare is low, which is about every 9 months or so. I still check the other four with a gauge every 2 weeks.

 

[john_pifer]

We do.

We find it to be very helpful. My wife lets me know when hers comes on, and ive found a couple of nails in her tires that way.

Also a Helpful reminder to put some air in the tires when we get that first cold snap in early winter.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

Yeah, it saved me recently! Not sure what happened but was running errands all morning while driving around,, the TPMS light came on. As soon as I got out, I saw the LR tire was very low and it wasn't when I got in a few minutes prior. Figured I must have picked something up. Threw on the donut, drove home and checked the tire. Couldn't find anything in the tire itself , bead wasn't leaking. Put air back in and haven't had an issue since.

 

[MCompact]

The 2er has a TPMS that reads to 1/10 pound. Later models provide the temperatures as well- handy at HPDEs!

 

[RooflessVW]

this morning i went out to pick up some stuff. i was stopped behind a BMW X 1 . i noticed the left rear tire looked flat . was gonna try to get their attention and tell them that the tire was low or flat.

light turned green before that and they took off. was behind them for at least 1/2 mile before i turned off. i could hear the tire whining like it was running on the bead. made me wonder do people even pay attention to the tpms warning lights. that thing must have been on for a while .

For all you know the TPMS light was noticed and they were taking advantage of the run-flat to drive it to a shop.

 

[JeffKeryk]

I just bash out that stupid light with a ball peen hammer.

 

[corster]

One of my sensors died a few years ago and I refuse to pay to replace it - my winters are on separate rims anyways and they don't have sensors either.

 

[Skippy722]

I hate lights on my dash, so yes. Light comes on, I’ll fill the tires or get the sensor fixed. I haven’t really had any leak though, a cold snap might set it off but I just fill it a little over recommended and I don’t have to worry for a very long time.